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Saturday, September 06, 2008

With this week's news that Dave Liebman is coming to St. Louis in November to play a free concert for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series, it seems an opportune time to look at some videos of the veteran saxophonist.

First up is Liebman's take on "My Favorite Things," a song popularized in the jazz world by John Coltrane, who's an important influence on Liebman's playing. Though not explicitly a Coltrane tribute, this clip help makes audible some of the the things Liebman got from Trane, and also gives an idea of how their approaches differ. (The backing band, with Joey Calderazzzo on piano, Dave Holland on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums, is pretty darned impressive, too.) The second video up above is a short interview that features Liebman talking about Coltrane and playing a bit with McCoy Tyner, the pianist in Coltrane's classic 1960s quartet.

Down below, we have three clips demonstrating Liebman's prowess in various musical settings. The first, "Saxophone Warrior" shows him doing his thing with a small jazz group. The second features Liebman's big band performing a composition called "Phillipe under the Green Bridge," with Liebman as featured soloist. The final clip shows Liebman in an intimate trio setting with bassist Mike Richmond and tabla player Badal Roy.